Department for International Development

Syria

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to provide books and other educational material for the Mesopotamia Academy of Social Sciences, Qamislo, northern Syria; and if not, why not.

Baroness Northover: The UK has no such plans at the moment. We are supporting a range of UN agencies and International NGOs who can deliver at scale. For example, the UK is supporting UNICEF to provide over 160,000 children inside Syria with a foundation-level understanding of key subjects including Arabic, Maths, and Science through remedial classes.

HM Treasury

Tourism: Taxation

Lord Pendry: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to introduce a tourist levy or tax in London to help local councils offset reductions in funding from the Exchequer.

Lord Deighton: The Government has no plans to allow any Local Authority to introduce a tourist levy or tax.

European Central Bank

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the quantitative easing programme launched by the European Central Bank.

Lord Deighton: The Treasury regularly monitors global economic developments, including those in the euro area, and their impact on the UK as part of the normal process of policy development.   It is not for the Government to comment on the appropriate monetary policy stance for the euro area.   Nonetheless, the Chancellor has made clear that the Government fully supports Mario Draghi’s efforts to ensure that the European Central Bank does whatever it takes to meet its inflation mandate.

The Lord Chairman of Committees

House of Lords: Staff

Lord Berkeley: To ask the Chairman of Committees how many staff working on the House of Lords estate and undertaking work for the House of Lords Administration are (1) employed directly by the House of Lords, and (2) employed indirectly through third parties; and whether there are any plans to change the number of staff employed indirectly through third parties.

Lord Sewel: The House of Lords Administration directly employs 572 staff (including part-time staff); a small number of these staff may not necessarily work all the time on the estate. The number of staff employed indirectly through third parties is not centrally counted but the two Houses have a contract for approximately 180 office and property service staff employed through an agency (whose work is not necessarily confined to the Lords estate) and the Catering and Retail Services of the House of Lords employed 321 agency staff in 2014 for a total of 16,732 hours to supplement their core workforce. The above figures do not include shared services and joint departments where the House of Commons is responsible for their employment, such as Parliamentary ICT and the Parliamentary Estates Directorate. The House also employs, from time-to-time, consultant staff.  Presently there are no plans to change the number of staff employed indirectly through third parties.

Department for Transport

Driving: Licensing

Lord Brabazon of Tara: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Kramer on 27 January (HL4238), when they last made an assessment of driver training and testing standards in each of the designated countries; which body carried out the assessment; where the assessments were carried out; and whether any countries have been removed from or added to the list of the designated countries in the last ten years.

Baroness Kramer: Designation of a country is based on an assessment of driver training and testing standards in that country to ensure that they are comparable with those in this country. A full assessment is carried out prior to the designation of each country. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) requests relevant information about the country’s testing and licensing systems. This is then passed to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) for consideration and approval. If the decision is made to designate the country, the law is then amended to include the new country. The table below shows when each designated country was fully assessed:  Date of Last full AssessmentDesignated Country1984Australia; Hong Kong; New Zealand; Singapore; Switzerland1985Barbados; British Virgin Islands; Zimbabwe; Japan1999South Africa; Canada2002Republic of Korea; Monaco2004Falkland Islands2007Faroe Islands2013Andorra  When reviewing these arrangements the DVLA contacts each country and requests updated information about the country’s testing and licensing systems. When changes are identified, information is passed to the DVSA for further consideration and approval. A review of Canada, Falkland Islands, Monaco, Republic of Korea and Zimbabwe was carried out in January 2014 and the remaining designated countries (Australia, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Faroe Islands, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa and Switzerland) are currently under review. To date, it has not been necessary to refer a designated country to the DVSA for full reassessment. In the last 10 years the Faroe Islands (2007) and Andorra (2013) have been designated for driving licence exchange in Great Britain. To date, only one country has been de-designated, this was Kenya in 2002.

Woodhead Tunnel

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of using the Woodhead rail tunnel for high voltage power cables; and whether it will affect future use of the tunnel for modern rail transport.

Baroness Kramer: The Government announced on 5 November 2013 that it would not be purchasing the Victorian rail tunnels at Woodhead on the former Manchester to Sheffield line from National Grid in order to instigate an inspection and maintenance regime on those tunnels. This decision, taken following consultation with 40 local MPs, statutory bodies, and Network Rail reflected the following key considerations: a) The Government has committed funding to the Northern Hub programme. This includes schemes to increase capacity and line speeds on the Hope Valley route between Manchester and Sheffield. b) A study carried out by Network Rail indicates that demand for travel between Manchester and Sheffield could more than double in thirty years. With the planned investment, the Hope Valley line and its trains could accommodate this growth. If freight grows, schemes have also been identified which could enable more freight trains to run. c) The Victorian tunnels were not in a good condition and would have required on-going funding to keep them in a condition necessary for possible re-use. These costs would have fallen on the taxpayer or meant less money for other vital rail investment in the north. d) If an additional rail route is required between Manchester and Sheffield, it is unlikely that even the modern tunnel at Woodhead would be suitable for re-use and, given advances in tunnelling technology as witnessed by Crossrail, the best solution is most likely to be the construction of a new tunnel. Further background to this decision can be found in my statement: Official Report, 5 November 2013, Column WS12.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Russia

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the total sum payable by Russia following judgments of the European Court of Human Rights; whether payments have been made in some cases; and whether they will make representations about any delays in payments.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The British Government does not hold this information as the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers is the body responsible for supervising Member States’ implementation of the European Court of Human Rights’ judgments, including on payment of just satisfaction. The UK plays an active role in the Committee of Ministers, and has regularly used this forum to press Russia to comply with Court rulings, in line with its international human rights obligations.

Palestinians

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel concerning the reported imprisonment of Malak Khatib.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv have not yet raised the case of Malak al-Khatib with the Israeli authorities, but they plan to raise it with the authorities in upcoming meetings.

Palestinians

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have taken legal advice as to whether the blockade of Gaza could constitute a crime against humanity.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: In accordance with longstanding convention followed by successive Governments we are not in a position to comment on the detail of legal advice. However, we are clear that the Israeli restrictions on movements of goods and people, including on access to agricultural and fishing areas, do tremendous damage to the economy and living standards of ordinary people in Gaza. In close co-ordination with our EU partners and the Office of the Quartet Representation, we continue to press the Israeli government at ministerial and official level to ease access restrictions.